Hospitals won't lose workers with mandatory flu shots

Mandatory influenza vaccinations did not drive hoards of healthcare workers to voluntarily terminate employment at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois, according to a four-year analysis of vaccination rates. In fact, almost all complied with the mandate.

In 2008, Loyola introduced an active declination system, in which all healthcare personnel had to state "yes" or "no" when asked to receive a vaccine and provide a reason for declining, and saw its overall vaccination rate rise to 72 percent.

Then in 2009, Loyola became one of the first U.S. medical centers to make flu vaccination a condition of employment--a mandate it extended to students, volunteers and contractors. During that year, 99.2 percent of employees received the vaccine, 0.7 percent was exempted for religious/medical reasons, and 0.1 percent chose termination over vaccination.

"Our employees and associates now understand that this is the way we do business. Just as construction workers must wear steel-toed boots and hard hats on job sites, healthcare workers should get a flu shot to work in a hospital," study author Jorge Parada, M.D., and professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said today in a statement.

The national average for healthcare personnel vaccination totals 64 percent, according to the study.

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James Merlino, M.D., is the chief experience officer of the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic health system, where he leads initiatives to improve the patient experience, as well as physician-patient communication, referring physician relations and employee engagement. He is also a practicing staff colorectal surgeon at its Digestive Disease Institute and co-chair of the Cleveland Clinic Diversity Council. He is also the founder and current president of the nonprofit Association for Patient Experience.